Construction workers accidentally destroy Banksy artwork in Kent

The 500-year-old barn in Herne Bay, Kent was slated for demolition when Banksy painted a mural on it. Photo / Google Maps

What could have been a successful tourist attraction for Kent, in the UK, was accidentally demolished by construction workers who had no idea the building featured a priceless Banksy painting.

When construction workers demolished a building in Kent, they had no idea they were destroying what could have been a multi-million-dollar piece of art, and a successful tourist attraction.

The mural by the world-famous anonymous artist Banksy was titled Morning is Broken and was painted onto a 500-year-old farmhouse on Blacksole Farm in Herne Bay.

Painted onto one of the barn’s boarded-up windows, the artwork showed a person and a car pushing back curtains that appear to be made of black corrugated irons.

On March 15, Banksy confirmed it was one of his iconic works via Instagram.

Workmen who were contracted to demolish the derelict building told local news media they “felt sick” after realising what they had done.

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Eventually, they were able to pull the remains of the work out from the rubble. A local Banksy fan who witnessed the event said it was like watching “the holy grail coming out of a skip”.

Banksy posted the images without a caption, however, one fan offered a reading into the particular placement and timing of the work.

“He knew about the demolition of that building beforehand,” wrote Tyler Indelicato in a comment that has received more than 2500 ‘likes’.

“The city owned that land and is redeveloping - the timing of when the wall was tagged vs when it was taken down suggests that the important messages about children are often either covered up quickly, or forgotten about.”

This is the second work Banksy has claimed this year, both in Kent. The other piece was shared by the artist on Valentine’s Day and spread a message of awareness about domestic violence.

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That Banksy’s work was demolished is nothing new. In fact, the artist has made global headlines before for purposely destroying his work. Most famous was when “Girl With Balloon” was ruined via an automated shredder hidden inside the picture frame, just seconds after it sold for US$1.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction in 2018.

Due to his anonymity, many of Banky’s works have sold for millions without the artist receiving any financial gain. For this reason, some suggest Banksy is placing his works in locations he knows will be wrecked or destroyed as a sort of rebellion.

The sentiment was captured in a Facebook post by Kent Online, which read: “Think how much it could have sold for”.